


The Best Medicine [+Podfic]

by xinasvoice



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Remus Lupin & James Potter Friendship, The Marauders - Freeform, also I said something nice about Peter, hopefully, it wasn't easy but I did it, with a chaser of chocolate and head massages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 21:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15397962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xinasvoice/pseuds/xinasvoice
Summary: James helps Remus after the full moon.





	The Best Medicine [+Podfic]

**Author's Note:**

> I dreamed this from Remus’ POV, and it was just too cute not to write. 
> 
> Podfic duration: 8min 42sec  
> [.m4a audio file](https://soundcloud.com/user-824292289/the-best-medicine) (16.9MB) ~ [ .m4b audiobook file](https://www.dropbox.com/s/0eouazg9g2myry2/01%20The%20Best%20Medicine.m4b?dl=0) (17.1MB)
> 
> Ending music is Dead Duck by Badly Drawn Boy [Buy it on iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dead-duck/310996089?i=310996164)
> 
> Thank you to Beta Reader, [ForeverShippingJohnlock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForeverShippingJohnlock/works), for always being the one to tell me to write the thing.
> 
>  
> 
> [Follow me on Tumblr](xinasvoice.tumblr.com)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/158228914@N03/46279881432/in/dateposted-public/)

“All righty, you’ve got both solid and liquid forms of chocolate, a book, a levitating charm to hold the book _up_ because that thing is too fucking heavy for your sad sprained wrists…what am I missing?” James surveyed the scene in front of him with his hands on his hips and then snapped his head up. “Oh, bubbles!”

“I don’t _need_ bubbles…” Remus leaned his head against the back of the tub and sighed wearily as another piece of chocolate melted in his mouth. It had been a hard full moon. Things were better now that the others were able to come along in their animagus forms, but the day after was still awful. In addition to the sprained wrists (Padfoot had unwisely led the pack through a meadow full of gnome holes), Remus had dozens of scratches and bruises, and he ached all the way down to his bones. Even his teeth hurt.

“Don’t be ridiculous, everyone needs bubbles!” James waved his wand at one of Sirius’ many bottles of bath products, which obediently floated over and poured a generous helping of sparkling amber liquid into the bathwater, filling the bathroom with a very Sirius-y smell of expensive sandalwood. James agitated the water with another wave of his wand and watched with a critical eye until an appropriate amount of bubbles had formed, thankfully stopping before Remus’ face was engulfed. Then he sat down at the head of the tub, saying, “I’ll do your hair.”

Remus groaned a bit but shifted so James could lather up his hair. It hadn’t been that long ago that James would have shied away from such an intimate form of assistance, but being around a friend who was pathetic, injured, and dirty on a monthly basis apparently went a long way towards breaking down internal barriers imposed by straight masculinity. It also hadn’t been that long ago that Remus himself would have protested—although the straight masculinity thing didn’t apply, obviously—but that was before he had felt the loving gentleness in James’ fingers. James was just as tender as Sirius ever was, and somehow the platonic nature of James’ touches of made them feel even more important than the intense need behind Sirius’ constant physical affection.

Remus figured he should enjoy it while it lasted. Nothing lasted forever, not even the Marauders. Soon, in just a couple months, they would all leave Hogwarts behind. James would move in with Lily, Peter would go to live in the dorms at the College of Ancient Runes, and Sirius would be busy with his internship at St. Mungo’s. Remus, meanwhile, would be floating between squatting at Sirius’ flat and doing research for Dumbledore, still overburdened with pain that his friends would no longer have time to deal with. There would be no more post-full-moon head massages.

“All right, Moons?” James asked softly, noticing the few tears leaking out of the corners of Remus’ eyes. His hand cradled the back of Remus’ head as he carefully scooped warm water over Remus’ curls, rinsing out the shampoo.

“Yeah,” Remus lied. “Just tired.”

“Padfoot’s an arse,” James said. “Can’t stay bloody still. Poor Wormtail had to ride in my rack almost the whole night.” He shuddered. “I can still feel his poky little claws scratching up my fuzz.”

Remus smiled, remembering the way Wormtail had squeaked and clung to Prongs’ fresh spring antlers as they sped across the meadows beyond the Forbidden Forest. All the while, Padfoot had been turning back to egg them on, tongue flapping around in his mouth. James might complain, but his stag form had been built for speed. Like Padfoot, he thrived on the chase. Moony did too. Remus no longer woke from full moons bloody and broken, with the Shack’s splinters lodged in his paws and muzzle. Instead, he woke bone-weary but content, with the smell of fresh grass and pack still in his nose.

James finished Remus’ hair and gently laid his head back on a towel at the edge of the tub. Then he moved on to examine Remus’ arms and hands, casting small charms on things Pomphrey had missed and carefully cleaning mud from under Remus’ ripped and tender fingernails. This, too, Remus had learned first to tolerate and then to appreciate. He was used to being checked over now, first by James, who was always far more fastidious than Madame Pomphrey, and then, later, by Sirius, who was usually more concerned with Remus’ overall…durability than tiny details like thistles under fingernails. Even Peter was apt to reach over in class and straighten Remus’ hair or brush dust from his robes. Remus had long ago learned to accept the unexpected circle of James’ arm or the possessive brush of Sirius’ lips on his neck as they walked through the halls, often with Peter walking backwards in front of them so he could cheer Remus up with the amazing rubberiness of his face as he told them stories, moving through different expressions and characters with all the fluidity of a professional actor.

Remus didn’t mind being their pet project, not anymore. There were worse things. He sighed in contentment as the warmth of the water and the protective nest of James’ love started to sink in. It was intangible, but real. It wasn’t the kind of thing that would just disappear once school ended.

At last, James finished. He laid Remus’ hand back in the water, letting the buoyancy hold up what Remus’ muscles were too tired to take responsibility for. “I’ll leave you to soak. I think you’re good for now.”

Remus nodded his agreement. He was good, for now.

“Anything else I can do for you before I go practice being unconscious?” James propped his elbows on the edge of the tub, yawning.

Remus smiled sleepily and shook his head. He lay back, boneless and half-floating in the water. James watched him for a minute, leaning on his hand and smashing his glasses into his brown skin, then he leaned over and kissed Remus’ forehead with a quick, gentle motion, as light and hesitant as the brush of a bird’s wing.

Remus raised his eyebrows, because that, at least, was new. James blushed a little but didn’t say anything as he stood up and stretched, preparing to leave. He looked a bit uncomfortable, a rare and precious opportunity that Remus couldn’t help but capitalize on. He was a Marauder, after all. 

“Actually,” he drawled, catching James’ attention once again. He raised one hand to trail his finger seductively along the edge of the bathtub, pretending it didn’t make his wrist throb unpleasantly, and gave James his best come-hither look, which he admittedly didn't have a lot of practice at. It always worked on Sirius, but Sirius never needed much encouragement. “I could really use a good fuck.”

James’ eyes went wide and he stared, unblinking, at Remus for a good ten heartbeats. _Like a_ _deer in headlights_ , Lily—the most frequent recipient of that look—would always say. Then he shook himself a little, turning and bellowing through the open door, “ _Sirius!_ ”

Remus burst out laughing. Water and bubbles sloshed over the rim of the tub as he seized up, letting himself go despite sore ribs and the unpleasant pull of scabbed-over scrapes on his face. James grinned back and winked as he left the room, soon replaced by Sirius, whose face shone with puppy-like eagerness as he hastily climbed right into the tub with Remus, clothes and all.

Remus’ laughter turned into shrieks, which were shortly muffled by Sirius’ mouth even as the other boy struggled to find a place in the tub that was not already occupied by sore werewolf. Remus shoved at him gladly, not caring how much water they were losing to the floor. Warm water and chocolate and books were all well and good, but they couldn’t compare to the power of a little laughter, a little joy. Fortunately for Remus, that, more than anything, was the Marauder’s specialty. It was a true gift, as all three of them were, and Remus was only too happy to accept it.


End file.
